JAPAN FOOD: Must-try Japanese Delicacies

UPDATED AS OF FEB 18, 2021

When you travel to another country, part of your itinerary would include trying as many local dishes as you can. Japanese food tastes really good, some of them have spread in different parts of the world, some countries even has their own version. 

Tried some 'authentic' Japanese food in your home country? If yes, you’re still missing out!

Try out these Japanese delicacies that we recommend to any traveler that will go to Japan.

Sushi 

Sushi is famous around the world even has many kinds of versions, fused with other cuisines, like the Sushi Burrito or the Sushi Pizza in America, but in Japan creating sushi is considered an art form. The basic way of creating the bite-size delicacy is with rice mixed with vinegar and salt, wrapped with nori (seaweed wrap) sometimes without. Then raw or cooked fish meat, roes, or vegetable is added.

There’s also a right way for you to dip the Sushi in that soy sauce. Dip the meat first instead of the rice part; this is also to avoid spilling rice all over.

Ramen

Ramen is one of the most popular options when choosing something to eat in Japan, in fact, each region offers its unique style of ramen with different soup bases, noodles and toppings. Even ramen shops put a distinct spin on their ramen to give it subtly different flavor profiles. 

Ramen is a bowl of pulled wheat noodles served with a broth mixed with many kinds of ingredients. The most typical ingredients are slices of meat, green onions, seaweed, and egg. 

The best way to eat Ramen is too slurp the noodles, it may be rude to some countries, but in Japan, it is expected. This also helps you to cool down the noodles for you to avoid burning yourself from eating it. 

Udon

Udon has thick white noodles made of wheat flour. These noodles are thicker than Soba and Ramen noodles, whiter and chewier. It can be cooked in hot broth or served cold with a dipping sauce. 

 Like Ramen there are a variety of ways to prepare Udon depending on the region, Sometimes it would be served as noodles topped with green onions but some with vegetables, egg, and meat.

Image by Douglas Perkins from Pixabay

Eating Udon is eaten like Ramen if it was served with hot soup/sauce, however, it was to be served with a dipping sauce, it’s better to get a strand then dip in the sauce first beating eating the noodles. 

Sashimi

Sashimi is a Japanese delicacy where raw meat or fish are sliced into thin pieces. The word sashimi means pierced (sashi) body (-mi), which is often mistaken with sushi (sashimi mixed vinegared rice). 

Seafood like fish, shellfish or mollusks are most commonly eaten as sashimi, other types of meats like beef, horse and deer, can also be served as sashimi. 

Most types of sashimi are dipped to a small dish of soy sauce before eating it. Depending on the type of sashimi, a little bit of wasabi or ground ginger can be added to a sashimi piece. It is better to dab the wasabi or ginger directly to the piece of meat rather than mixing them into the soy sauce. 

Takoyaki

Takoyaki are ball-shaped battered snacks filled with octopus. They have a crunchy exterior, but the inside remains creamy (though cooked), some filled with minced or diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion. 

Takoyaki are usually drizzled with Japanese mayonnaise, bonito flakes, and sometimes okonomiyaki sauce and spring onion. 

Image by Tara Halstead from Pixy.org

They are easily found in many streets of Japan, especially in Osaka where you can find them perfectly prepared.

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a savory, griddle-cooked pancake filled with cabbage and other ingredients, it is best described as Japanese soul food. Okonomiyaki is best tried in the cities of Osaka or Hiroshima as they are the most well known for their variation and ways of making it.

When broken down to okonomi (as you like it) and yaki (grilled), the word itself means grilled as you like it, so okonomiyaki is a very personal meal. There are also two kinds of ways to cook this Japanese food: the Kansai-style (also known as Osaka-style) and Hiroshima-style. The Kansai-style is most commonly found in Japan, the Hiroshima-style, however, is different, the batter is cooked like a thin crepe while the other ingredients are cooked separately, then they will wrap the cooked ingredients on the crepe and the okonomiyaki is served on top of yakisoba noodles. 

Okonomiyaki

Walking through a Dōtonbori (tourist spot) is the best way to find a food stall making these delicious pancakes.

Miso Soup

Miso soup has been part of the Japanese diet since the 6th or 7th century. It is also one of the most frequently consumed foods in Japan, and in each household knows at least one but often several recipes of the soup. 

Miso soup is traditionally made with miso paste and dashi broth (dried bonito or kombu seaweed), but it's also typically enhanced with other ingredients - such as wakame seaweed and cubes of tofu and sometimes other ingredients are added, depending on the region.

Photo by Marisa Harris on Unsplash

Finding this dish is easy, walk into any restaurant in Japan and they will serve Miso soup accompanying any meal.

Mochi

Mochi is a Japanese dessert made of sweet glutinous pounded rice grain or mochigome which has a chewy, smooth, and elastic texture. Mochi is naturally white color but today you can find tinted ones with different color, wrapped around a sweet center like red bean paste or ice cream to form small, bite-sized confections. 

Making mocha requires hours of pounding and sweat, why? To make mocha you need to soak the glutinous rice overnight then the next day place it on a large mortar then pounded repeated with an equally large mallet.

Colorful Mochi

Creating this confection is a two-man or more job. One person would be pounding the mochi while the other would dab the mochigome with little water to retain the moisture of the sweet treat. This process is called ‘mochitsuki’.

 If you’re traveling to the Land of the Rising Sun, you shouldn’t forget to scour the streets of Japan and experience the Nippon way of eating these must-try Japanese delicacies. And don’t forget to say “Itadakimasu!”

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Have you ever tried one these Japanese delicacies? Let us know by commenting down below!

See our infographic here: https://pin.it/5vfcwerm5bpc4u

Watch our video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjO23qsYgzc

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